Personal Integrity, Character Assassination, and the PGF
A
special document on a matter which goes directly to the issue of personal integrity
in the debate about the Patterson Gimlin Film (PGF)
I have been banned from the discussion forum known as the JREF (James Randi
Educational Foundation).
I reported a person who flat out said i was dishonest, and I expected the moderators of the forum would
(at a minimum) uphold the stated policy "address the argument (or idea), not the person".
I notified the person in that forum
that I had reported him. I then posted a CNN-sourced news article about on-line libel as a reference to the consequences a person
should realistically expect for commiting libel with on-line internet statements proven to be libelous.
These two posts of mine
were removed. The person accusing me of being dishonest was apparently not punished, and his post was not edited or removed. So I
gave notice in a posting that I must consider a legal redress.
I was banned from membership. The following PDF document details
this matter. The whole story of the PGF is filled character assassination, sadly, and at some point, we must say "enough is enough".
Bill Munns
June 17, 2011
Update as of June 18, 2011
Within hours of my posting this material to the site, the entire discussion thread
(on me, the Munns Report, and my PGF studies) was removed from the viewing by the JREF administrators or website staff. I do not presume
it was from their reading the PDF on this website, but more likely was a result of the email to their forum administrators sent the
evening before. Either way, it was a bold and unexpected action.
All we can say with certainty is that over 4095 posted messages,
the entirety of the discussion for over 2 2/1 years, now apparently ceases to exist. Given that there are far simpler remedies available
to them (such as simply editing individual postings or closing the thread but allowing it to stand in view), the virtual elimination
of this massive archive of discussion does strongly suggest the legal concerns about defamation against me, and the desire to hide
such evidence, may have been the motive. it appears to have been a drastic and impulsive action, and such actions are usually motivated
by fear.
I will continue to evaluate the options for a legal followup to this incident.
Updated October 1, 2011
Insults,
lies and defamation do continue in PGF or Bigfoot-related discussion threads, and screen captures of this evidence are being collected.
New Notes on the JREF Forum and my Interactions with It and It’s Members
I think it is fairly well known to one and all who pay
attention to my report or efforts that I and the Forum called the JREF (the James Randi Educational Foundation forum) has had a contentious
relationship for years, and I am currently banned from it (described below in detail). But, of course, it’s members continue to post
remarks about me, almost all being unkind, insulting, occasionally outright lies, and occasionally so absurd as to be almost comical.
I
continue to look in on them and usually just let things pass, but occasionally, I feel that a pro-active response in some form is
necessary to balance their misinformation and negativism.
I decided to take such a step the other day, by making a direct open
letter appeal to Mr. James Randi, himself, and sent it to him through the “Contact Us" email function of his foundation website’s
own system.
Below is the screenprint of the message page with the beginning of my open letter shown.
I’ve decided to publish here the complete letter as well, so anyone can read it. What follows is the complete text of that “Open Letter".
November
7, 2012
Open Letter to Mr. James Randi
Dear Mr. Randi:
You are described in your JREF biography as “the world’s most tireless
investigator and demystifier of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims”. Your foundation’s mission statement encourages members toward
the acknowledged goal of “taking action with us to stop paranormal and pseudoscientific frauds”. One current discussion thread in
your JREF Forum is even titled “James Randi letter to Daredevil” and describes your personal intervention to address a matter whereby
Uri Geller is not acknowledged to be the fraud you have investigated and published some expose’ of. One of your forum members, in
the same discussion thread (post #7 specifically), the member states: “One of the things I love and admire about Mr. Randi is his
uncompromising challenge to any con-artist or example of fraud or malevolent trickery. Now, thirty-five years later, he is still at
it.”
That brings me to the point of this respectful inquiry. In many discussions threads of your JREF Forum, I, Bill Munns,
am repeatedly and blatantly accused or otherwise identified as a fraud. My alleged “fraud” is that I have applied five years of effort
to what I describe as scientific analysis of the famous Patterson Gimlin “Bigfoot” film of 1967, and I conclude and confidently announce
publicly that my analysis concludes the film is authentic and the “creature” seen in that film is in fact some real biological entity
often called a “Bigfoot” or “Sasquatch” and is not a hoaxed figure accomplished with a normal human in a costume of any kind. And
in your JREF Forum, members in good standing repeatedly state with confident impunity that I am a fraud, as a person, or that I am
engaged in some manner of fraud, as an activity, because of that public position I take, and the fact that I seek and occasionally
obtain funding for my scientific efforts..
In your JREF Forum’s membership agreement, rule 12, it states “address the argument,
not the arguer”. That, as I understand it, would mean that the forum, its administrators and moderators (acting under the auspices
of your personal name and reputation) do not consider these attacks labeling me a fraud as inappropriate, because they do not remove
the remarks or restrain or punish the people posting same. The implication is that by their allowing the remarks to stand unchallenged
(and I am banned from forum participation so I cannot challenge the remarks myself) that these administrators and moderators (acting
under your name and reputation) find enough merit in the claims to let them rise above your Rule #12 and attack me personally, “attack
the arguer”
Therefore, I make this direct and personal appeal to you, sir. If the following three stipulations are true:
1.
That you are dedicated to exposing fraud where paranormal or pseudoscientific claims are being made”
2. That your Foundation
and it’s JREF Forum are encouraging members to “taking action with us to stop paranormal and pseudoscientific frauds”
and
3.
That your foundation and forum is not and would not aid and abet or be accomplice to any act of public defamation or libel or slander
of an actual person, by allowing false accusations to stand as apparent facts for public viewing
Then I cordially invite and
indeed encourage you to personally intervene and prove that I am, in fact, a fraud (in the personal sense) or am engaged in fraud
(as an activity).
To facilitate an evaluation of this matter, you may want to confir with two of your Forum members, using the
screen names of “Alaska Bush Pilot” and “rockinkt” because both have repeatedly denounced me as a fraud on numerous posted comments,
and both have given indications that they have academic or law enforcement experience with the identification or exposure of con-men,
manipulators and perpetrators of fraud. So they can likely get you on the fast track to evaluate these accusations.
Sincerely,
postscript: In the absence of any action or intervention on your part, one could reasonably conclude that
at least one (or more) of the above three stipulations is in fact false, and that the forum acting under your name and reputation
does aid, abet or may be regarded as willing accomplice to defamation, libel or slander.
Note:
Additional documentation of these
posted remarks accusing me of fraud or otherwise defaming me is available on request, in the form of screenprints of actual JREF forum
postings.
(End of the “Open Letter” text)
Will Mr. Randi actually see this letter, I can only hope but likely will never know for sure. How his foundation staff will react
or respond to it, I can only wait and see. There has been no reaction that I can see so far. I will encourage anyone who does
have membership and posting rights on the JREF to bring it to the attention to the members, but suspect if that is done, the Moderators
there may censor any references, but that suspicion remains to be seen. Additionally, since members of that
forum are allowed to express their opinions of me, personally, in open public postings, I should have equal right and so I am posting
a remark I made in another forum about the JREF crowd, offering my own opinion of them, in a public posting. Fair is fair, and if
they can remark about me, I have equal right to remark about them. So what I posted not long ago is as follows:
BFF
Posting in “The JREF Crowd” Thread
“What I personally find so perplexing about the JREF cult is that they flat out refuse to
consider even the possibility I may be sincere in my thoughts and efforts, when I happen to take great pride in being sincere in what
I research, what I write, and how I try to do things in a scientific way. Now how much I know, how competent I am at what I do, how
well I reason things out, that's all fair game to be debated, but if someone wants to criticize my efforts, they should have specific
things they can point to, quote me and my notes, and then say "here's your error". That I would understand.
But they instead
start with a delusional assumption I must be a fraud, indeed some of the truly paranoid have outright accused me of committing fraud,
and their delusional assumption is I MUST be lying in my core intent, claiming my goal is to deceive, when I really knock myself out
trying to be as factual as I can, and won't post anything unless I sincerely believe it is true and responsible to say or write. So
once they launch their delusion on the basis of assumed intent that I am a fraud, and intent on deception, everything from there is
rationalized in their minds around that delusion.
They pride themselves in being "critical thinkers" but are, in fact "critical
unthinking drones" who can't get past their own flawed assumptions.
In one respect, it's sad, in another, it's a bit scary, that
they have such a platform for publicly posting their lies and delusions and presenting them as facts, and there's zero moderation
to rein them in.
But it is an intriguing lesson in human nature, to know the truth of who I am and what I do, and then read their
wild and even insane delusions of who they think I am and what I do.
So it is from personal experience that I can confidently
say they are a cult of dogma-obsessed drones who wouldn't recognize the truth no matter how you present it to them.
Bill “
My
previous interactions with the JREF, follow below, and why I was banned follow below, should anyone be interested in knowing
more of the history between me and this forum or its members.